It's Always the Little Things

Saturday 2 April 2011

UPDATE:  Microwave oven in the green waste bin.  Grrrrrrr.   Why don't I say something, you ask?  Yeah, well, herein lies the deficit in assertiveness :P

____

It is possibly saying more about me than anyone else, and I may be really anal, but I judge people on the way they bin stuff.

Here in Oz we have a three-bin rubbish system.  One bin for tip rubbish, one bin for green garden waste, one bin for recycling.

I have this anal idea that we should put the right things in the right bins because then the world runs better.  Because the world doesn't end outside my front door and all, you know?

So yeah, I do, I judge people when they don't bin stuff in the right way because it says something to me about how they don't give a shit.  Like, when people don't wash their recycling stuff, I get annoyed about that, too.  Because there is some poor dude at the other end of the line who is sorting our recycling stuff into piles.  And I like to think about him or her and wash the coconut cream out of the tin so it doesn't stink right up their nose and right into their crappy, boring job.

But some people just don't think about those sorts of things.  My neighbours, for example. Our properties are on the one block and we share rubbish bins.  We also share utilities - water, gas and electricity - because our properties aren't separately metered.  This wasn't a problem when my landlord lived in the house.  It wasn't a problem when the last lot of people lived here.  It's a problem with the current people living here.

Our relationship has deteriorated like last week's dinner seeping out through the bottom of the garbage bag.

They put green waste in the recycle bin.  They put clothes in the recycle bin.  They put rubbish in the green waste bin.

But then, they're the types of people who tell me that no, they're not going to accept my word that I've only been here for X amount of days in a given billing period when a bill comes in.  They expect me to pay half and half all the way down the line.  Because, as they say - and I quote - "how do we know you're not coming back here during the day and doing your washing?"

Because I wouldn't be that fucking tight, you turd.

These are the people that in the process of getting me to pay my half for the bill, have actually got me to pay MORE than half.  I know this because I just saw the bill come in the letterbox.  The final notice bill that they still haven't bothered paying yet.

I feel my anger rise.  And it is good.  Do you know I'm just too accommodating for my own good sometimes?  I was actually going to offer them when I get rid of the old fridge and washing machine to the steel recycler firm, I was going to ask them if they wanted their old fridge and washing machine picked up that they've had sitting in the garage.  The same fridge and washing machine that have now gone, leaving behind my stuff.  Of course.

See, I dunno, but I hate conflict, and I love people being in agreement with each other, even if they see things differently.  But these people just behave like shitheads.  And yeah, I know - I'm not in the least bit deluded that they probably have stories of their own to describe why they are now behaving like turds with Narcissistic Personality Disorder.  For all I know, I look really shithouse in their eyes too. 

Still, sometimes you just gotta grit your teeth and feel the anger.  The anger is an energy that is warning you that your boundaries are being violated by people who, while accusing you of fleecing them on the bills, try to fleece you in the process.

And this is my blog and they're not here and so I can say, fuck you, you brats.  I can't wait to see the last of you.



Do I feel better?  Yes, yes, in fact I do!  :D

11 comments

  1. You worry too much, we're all pretty well screwed and all we are doing is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic. Where does all the green waste and recycling shit end up... the landfill.

    So, kick back and enjoy the ride into oblivion. As the world ends up like a puddle of runny pooh on God's footpath I am amused by the idea that the dinosaurs, with brains the size of wallnuts, lasted for about 200 million years. We won't make half a million. Too damn smart for our own good.

    Cheers.

    ReplyDelete
  2. just as well you're moving 'aye

    ReplyDelete
  3. Haha, Phil, whoever the hell you are, thanks for your comment :D

    We may well be screwed. I share your despairing cynicism at how bloody smart for our own good we are.

    But no, the green waste and recycling do not end up in the landfill.

    See, I guess that's the thing, right. If we are going down on the Titanic, I would like to do it with an eye to looking after the earth as much as we can while we kill ourselves off. I would like to do it admiring how the sun glints on the water and how fucking amazing this earth is. If that means minimising as much as possible our insistence on buying crappy shit that we don't need and living beyond everything's means, then at least we can do it with a bit of grace :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yeah, it is, 'aye. Or is it, 'eh? Whatever way it is Kel, it needs some punctuation :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. according to the kel grammar rules:
    it's 'aye if you're tending to kiwi pronunciation
    or 'eh if you're tending to asian

    ReplyDelete
  6. Sounds like it's good you're moving. Sometimes having neighbors is a pain...usually nice, but once in awhile it's a major pain. I could tell you stories....

    Not clear on "tip rubbish". I'm assuming that is just general trash that's not green or recycle? We sort just like that, but it's "trash", "recycling" and "yard debris". So just clarifying. I'm strange that way. :) Did that make you laugh?

    ReplyDelete
  7. I'm so lucky with my neighbours, and it must be a nightmare sharing utilities. What is currently pissing me off is ignorant people walking down the street eating crisps and stuff as they go. Then they just drop the crisp packet on the ground or in someone's (mine last week) garden. Huh!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have been following your blog for a while and i would like to say you really entertain me lol you say the things that i am thinking!! I hope you feel better after your vent. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Erin - yep, tip rubbish is general trash, haha. No, it didn't make me laugh but it's funny how we have so many things that are the same with different words ... which is cool. "Yard debris" sounds a very hoity-toity term for weeds and grass clippings :)

    Tess - yeah, that makes me angry too. It's this weird thing these days where so many people feel like what's public is theirs to do with as they ike (this said hypocritically by someone who's probably thrown a whole lot of stuff down in the street in her younger years :)

    Ami - hi, thanks for dropping in. It's funny, so often when I write the posts where I'm venting about stuff people respond to them when I feel like nobody is going to, haha :) I DO feel better after my vent :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. I'm just revisiting to say that I cleaned out the tins and plastic bottles for recycling much more thoroughly than usual last night - you are a good influence!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Oh, what a good girl you are, Tess :D

    ReplyDelete

Newer Older